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Position of the body when found (prone, with hands together above head) would indicate victim had been tied to bed frame prior to the fire starting. Material found in mouth, assumed to be gag. Rope fragments evident.
What the hell? Jess recoils, her eyes wide. Someone had been in their house and had tied and gagged Patrick before setting the place alight? Why hadn’t she heard anything? Why hadn’t Patrick called out?
A loud bang on the door makes Jess almost jump out of her seat. She stops dead, her heart thumping. The bang comes again, then a man shouting her name.
It takes a few seconds for her to think straight, for Jess to realize it’s Nav.
She jumps up and opens the door. Nav sighs when he sees her.
“Shit, Jess. I thought you were dead.”
She moves out of the way, and he comes inside. “I’m fine,” she replies. Jess is pleased to see him, but she’s tentative, trying to gauge his mood after their argument last time they were together.
“So you say.” He looks around the apartment, then back at her face. “You seem pale. How have you been feeling?”
“I’m fine,” she repeats. “I …” Her gaze shifts to the computer, the postmortem report still on the screen.
He follows her line of sight. “What’s that?”
“It’s the postmortem report for Patrick.”
“The …” He stares at it, then back at her. “Jess, what are you doing? What have you got yourself into? I saw the news, all the murders. Is this—” He points to the screen. “Is Patrick connected?”
Jess nods. “Griffin thinks so.”
“Griffin …” Nav’s voice tapers off. He reaches forward and takes her hands in his. “Jess, this is madness. You can’t stay here. You can’t get caught up in this.”
“I already am, Nav!” Jess exclaims. She’s happy he’s not still furious with her; she desperately doesn’t want to piss him off again. But she has to stay here and see it through. “I can’t walk away from this now.”
She sees his jaw clench and he shakes his head.
Jess knows Nav’s already done so much for her. At university, he’d caught on fast to Jess’s condition and through the years had been the voice of reason at her shoulder. Reminding her to do her daily check. Stitching her up when she needed it. She knows many people with her condition don’t live to old age, or at least lose feet or hands to infection. Nav is probably the only reason she’s still alive and in one piece.
She watches as he walks to the computer and looks at it, his eyes scanning the words she’s already read. She wants to say something to make it better between them, but right now she has no idea what that is.
“Do you understand it, Nav?” she asks quietly.
He sits down slowly, moving the page on the screen. “Oh, Jess …” he whispers under his breath. His hand goes to his mouth, and he looks away momentarily, screwing his eyes shut. Then he looks up at her. “Are you sure you want to know?”
Jess nods and sits down next to him.
Nav takes in a long breath. “This basically says that Patrick was alive when the fire got to him. Someone tied him up.” He closes his eyes again and pinches the top of his nose. Jess can see he’s wrestling with his emotions. “They made sure he burned to death.”
Nav reaches over and puts his hand on her arm. “But you know what this means, Jess? Someone targeted him—someone targeted your house. You’re in danger. Please go to the police. You’ll be safe there, at least. Please?”
Jess sees the desperate look in his eyes. But she shakes her head.
Nav goes to say something else, but they both turn as they hear a key in the door.
Griffin pushes it open, then stops when he sees Nav. One look at the expression on his face and she knows things aren’t good.
He doesn’t say anything, just takes his jacket off and throws it on the sofa. He walks to the kitchen, takes a bottle of vodka out of the cupboard, pours a generous measure into a mug, and throws it back in one.
“You’re Nav,” he growls.
Nav stands up slowly. He’s hesitant as he goes across to Griffin. Nav’s tall and lean, but his bulk is nothing compared to Griffin. Jess sees Nav stand up straighter, mentally sizing himself up to the other man.
He holds out his hand. “Dr. Nav Sharma,” he says.
